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The little fawn I am holding was found by me in the Summer of 2007. I am an avid if not Rabid Deer Hunter but I have compassion and consider myself ethical. I was wading the creek fishing by the house fishing and had just gone a short ways when I saw him lying in a clump of grass on the bank. This was a regular crossing for deer and knowing does will leave the young and draw attention to themselves I just walked on by. I tried to see a fawn lying in an open field up close one time to get a picture but the mom had other ideas and I saw her much closer than I cared. I did not see or hear any deer but the current in the creek was noisy so I just went on. When I returned several hours later he was still there so I walked up over the bank towards the road. Several buzzards flew up and there was mom. She had either been hit by a car (Road 40 ft away) or birthing hemmoraghing. He was young enough to still have the umbilical cord attached. When I got him to the house I had my Grand daughter who lives with us keep an eye on him in the back of the truck while I callrd the vets office. Our Wildlife Rescources Officers advise people to leave animals such as this alone to let nature take its course. In fact it is against the law to keep or interfere with them in Tennessee.  I like most of man's laws but some are just plain wrong. I am always in agreement with the laws of nature and some might say I was interfering with these, but as I myself am a part of Nature, all's fair and besides this state contradicts itself by making acts like this illegal while liscensing people to to rehab the animals back to health. Go figure. I had taken several hawks and owls to a place near Nashville called "Walden's Puddle" so I called the vet to inquire and found out a Wildlife Rehab Spec. lived about 10 miles away. I met her daughter at the vet's office. The reason I was holding the little guy as I was is because after handling many baby goats I found out how to hold them so they could not kick and yuo would not hurt them. Those little feet  hurt like the dickens and sometimes cut. One of the girls said she was glad to learn that about goats being as they got several a week. Nature gives fawns and other young wild animals a gift at birth for a little jump start. They have no smell or odor to them fot the first few weeks of their life. This is why the mother leaves them and draws attention to herself. A predator may not smell them but can see them. They bottle fed him for about four or five days and then when several does with fawns came into the field in front of her house she took him out front and released him. He ran to one of the does with only one fawn and after a few seconds of mutual sniffing he was nursing less than 45 seconds from release. It sems the wild animal world handles these situations with far less Red Tape and formality than Humans. I believe we could learn a great deal if we watched some species interact. They seem to be eons ahead of Humans in this aspect.     Checkout the pictures lost among the others of Sommer, my now seven year old Grand daughter with him in the truck. Sommer gets a tottally different type of education out here in the country. It reminds me of talking with my brother after Katrina. I could not fathom people just sitting waiting for help with no means of survival or none they knew how to implement. He told me not everyone carries a Katadyn Water filter with them or even knew to simply boil water twice to purify it. Some of these people had never been beyond the city limits of New Orleans in a 70 year life. Although society is rapidly changing around us even in the rural areas, I try to teach Sommer and Briar the things my sons were taught and I was taught from birth. Admittedly, my house is not Child Safe for most children, but for these two I consider it so. Respect is a much better approach than fear. She understands the difference in TV death and Squirrel or Rabbit Death which are not reversable. That is the first lesson any child should learn about guns. When they see, feel, smell,hear, and taste the results that come from firing a gun, they understand. Locking away and telling them NO, NO, NO, teaches nothing but does intrigue the curiosity. Danger! They must know it is an adults part to give this knowledge and it is a privilage when that duty or honor is bestowed upon them, not with some certificate to hang on the wall but with a smile from one they respect. The time's they are a changing, but I'm pulling back on the brakes as hard as I can.  The more I look at life, the more I consider spending the final part in the Alaskan Wilderness or Montana at least. Raise a kid first. Priorities you know. Tommy 9/9/2008